Sunshine
by lunarchroniclesandcockatiels
Summary: Leo can fix everything, except the one thing that matters most. Oneshot.
**A/N: Hey guys! I know I need to update my other stories, but I couldn't help posting this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

"Can you fix it, Daddy?" The little girl, Natalie, asked, holding out a Barbie doll with a broken leg.

"Of course I can! I can fix anything. I'm Leo Valdez!" Leo replied. He took the Barbie doll in his arms, and snapped it into place.

Natalie grinned at him.

 _Three years later_

"I have to go in front of the gods in Olympus." Calypso told him, twisting a lock of hair around her finger.

"What?" Leo cried, plopping down on the bed.

Calypso shook her head. "I don't know. They didn't - _wouldn't_ say."

"So when do you have to go?" Natalie asked, opening the bedroom door. "Mom, are you in trouble?"

"No, of course not, sweetheart," Calypso said, a tight smile on her face. "It's nothing. Now stop spying and go play with your sisters, okay?"

Natalie shook her head. "If it was nothing, you wouldn't have to go to Olympus."

"Natalie, _mija_ , it's fine, I promise," Leo told her. "Besides, if it wasn't fine, we could just fix it."

"Can you really fix anything, Daddy?"

"Of course, _mija_."

Natalie smiled, closing the door, and walking away to her own bedroom.

"I have to go tomorrow," Calypso said, bringing Leo's mind back to their conversation. "Think you can hold up the house for one day?"

"Of course."

—

Leo went downstairs the next morning, surprised to not find Calypso already awake, and sitting at the table with a cup of tea. He sighed, remembering where she was.

"Can I make pancakes, Dad?" Natalie asked, pulling the chocolate chip pancake mix out from the cupboard.

Her two younger sisters, Ella and Claudia nodded.

"Sure, sure fine," Leo told her. "Just don't start a fire, all right?"

Natalie grinned.

"When's Mommy coming home?" Ella asked, glancing at the clock. "She left an hour ago."

"Mommy had to go all the way to Olympus, so that's kind of far," Natalie told her sister, while pouring mix into the pan.

Ella frowned. "Why did she have to go?"

"She probably just wanted to visit some friends or something," Natalie continued, her voice starting to crack. "Right, Daddy?"

Leo didn't answer. He just shook his head, and popped a grape in his mouth so he wouldn't have to talk.

Natalie sighed, her ten-year-old eyes drifting back towards the pancake pan. She quickly set the pancakes on a plate, and turned off the stove.

"Pancake!" Claudia cried, running over, and grabbing a pancake with her bare hands. She then proceeded to stuff the entire pancake in her mouth, making herself look like a chipmunk in the process.

Ella giggled. "Hey, we should plant some flowers, and surprise Mommy with them when she gets back!"

Claudia clapped her hands. "Yeah!" She cried happily. Leo didn't have the heart to tell his two youngest that flowers didn't grow that quickly.

"And we can make dinner!" Natalie added. "Hey, we should make pizza! And invite Aunt Piper and Uncle Jason and Jillian and Isabelle and-"

"Hey, slow down," Leo said, "You can make dinner, but we're not having a giant party with five million people, okay?"

"Aww," complained Ella. "Why not?"

"Because you have school tomorrow, _mija_." Leo reminded her while patting her hair.

"Why do we have to go to _school_?" Natalie complained.

"Yeah, why?" piped up Claudia.

"You don't get to complain," Natalie said. "You're only in preschool."

"So?"

"Preschool's fun! You just color!"

"No."

"Well, what _else_ do you do?"

"We do numbers, and playtime, _and_ nap time."

"Let's get back to dinner." Leo put in, hoping to keep his children from arguing anymore. Usually, all their fights ended with fire, flowers, and well, magic. Typical demigod stuff. Sometimes, it could get hard to maintain all three of them, but Leo was grateful for his daughters.

He just wished he knew what was taking Calypso so long.

"So, you have to take us shopping," Natalie said, crossing her arms.

"Excuse me?" Leo asked.

"Please can you take us shopping?" Natalie rephrased. "We don't have tomato sauce or mozzarella cheese. Just american."

"Or we could just order pizza," Ella added. "Right, Nattie?"

"Maybe we should," Natalie decided, "But don't call me 'Nattie', okay?"

"Why?" Claudia asked.

"Because it isn't my name."

"Why?" Claudia asked again.

"It's your nickname. Just like my real name is Eleanor, but everyone calls me Ella." Ella reminded her.

"Come on, let's order pizza!" Leo called, and dialing the number, even though it was still severn in the morning. But they could always microwave it if it got cold, right?

"Ooo!" cried Ella, glancing at the menu Leo held in his hands. "Can we get the cinnamon stick things?"

"Fine," Leo said. Calypso wouldn't mind just this once, would she?

—

It turned out that Leo never had the chance to find out. Even though they all sat at the table until eleven o'clock, with the pizza growing colder by the minute, Calypso never returned. Even though Leo stayed up all night, waiting for her, his wife never came back.

At about six o'clock the next morning, with heavy eyelids, Leo wrote a letter, and quickly stuck it in the mailbox, glancing halfheartedly at the sign on the mailbox that read "Leo and Calypso's Repairs.' He then climbed into bed, hoping to get a little bit of sleep before the day started.

—-

Natalie and Ella both got up at around seven to get ready for school.

"Is Mommy back yet?" Ella asked, spooning Lucky Charms cereal into her mouth.

Natalie shrugged. "I don't think so. Hey, did you get the newspaper yet?"

Ella shook her head. "No, but I'll go get it now." She stood up, brushing crumbs off of her dress.

Natalie glanced down at her cereal, and stirred it around with her spoon for a bit, waiting for Ella to return. Deep down, she know it was doubtful that her mother would return anytime soon, but there was always hope….

"NATTIE!" Ella screamed, running inside, and throwing what looked like a letter at her sister. "Mommy wrote a letter!"

Natalie opened her mouth wide, too surprised to even reprimand her sister for calling her 'Nattie.'

"Mom wrote? Can I see?" she cried, ripping open the envelope.

"Read it to me!" Ella demanded, twisting her hands.

Natalie removed the small sheet of paper located in the envelope. "Here, It says:

 _Dear Leo, Natalie, Ella, and Claudia,_

 _I miss you! Just visiting some friends in Olympus! Be home soon!_

 _Love,_

 _Mommy ("Sunshine")"_

Ella smiled. "Come on, let's go wake up Claudia." Natalie returned the smile, until she remembered something….

There was no mail on Sunday.

—-

"Bye!" Leo called, dropping Ella, Natalie, and Claudia off at school. He drove home, hopefully to take a nap. He couldn't run 'Leo and Calypso's Repairs' without Calypso.

Leo climbed into bed, on Calypso's side. He was woken two hours later, by the ringing of his phone.

"Hello?" he asked, grabbing the monster-proof phone his brothers and sisters had personally designed, and jumping out of bed. "In the principal's office? I'll be right there."

By the time Leo managed to get dressed, and drive to school, the principal was waiting for him outside, a concerned expression on her face. "You're late." she said, pointing to her watch. "But no matter. Come in, we have a lot to talk about."

Leo followed the principal back into her office, where Natalie sat with a sizeable bruise on her cheek, looking tiny.

"You see," said the principal, whose nametag read 'Mrs. Granger.'

"Your daughter was in a fight in at school today. Natalie Valdez, would you care to explain?"

Natalie shook her head, looking stubborn.

"Very well, then," sighed Mrs. Granger. "Natalie punched one student in the stomach, and somehow managed to burn their arm."

Leo looked at his young daughter, and raised an eyebrow. Natalie shrunk in her seat.

"I think I can take care of this one, Mrs. Granger." Leo said.

"Good," said the principal. "Now, I'm afraid you will have to take her home, as the usual punishment for fighting in school is suspension."

"Thanks, lady," Leo said, taking Natalie by the arm, and leading her out of the principal's office. "Now come on. I think we have a lot to talk about."

—-

Leo sat down in the closest booth at Denny's. Natalie followed him, sliding down in the seat across from him.

"Why did you do it?" he questioned.

"What?" Natalie asked innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about. Using your powers to burn someone."

"They insulted Mom!" Natalie cried. "I told one person, Anna, whom I share a locker with, that Mom left and didn't come back, and she told everyone! And Jake said that the reason Mom left is that she doesn't love us anymore!" Leo looked into Natalie's eyes, which were filled with tears. "Is it true? Why didn't Mommy come back? And on top of that, you _lied_. I trusted you, but you left a letter, pretending Mommy sent it."

"Natalie, _mija_ , I'm sorry-" Leo started to say, but Natalie cut him off.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!"

"Natalie-" Leo tried, but Natalie interrupted him again.

"So I hit Jake _very_ lightly on his arm, and he gave me this." She pointed to her cheek. "I punched him back, because that was not a nice thing to do, and nobody messes with _our_ family. After that, some boy started to come closer, and he looked like he was going to try to punch me, so I burned him, on his arm."

"Natalie Eileen Valdez, you know you aren't supposed to use your powers for hurting people!" Leo cried.

"You would have done the same thing." Natalie reminded him.

"That doesn't mean you aren't in trouble, Natalie," Leo said, calming down a little, "But given the consequences, you'll only be grounded for a week."

"But-" Natalie started to say. Leo stopped her.

Suddenly, Calypso appeared in front of them.

"Mommy!" Natalie cried, embracing her mother in a hug. Calypso hugged back, but her heart didn't seem to be into it.

"Valdez," she said, looking Leo in the eye. "Come with me. I need to talk to you."

Leo followed Calypso, until they were standing outside. "What's up, Sunshine?"

"The gods want me back on Ogygia." Calypso muttered, looking sideways.

"What?" Leo cried. "But Percy made them promise to release you, and-"

"Wartime efforts," Calypso said, making air quotations with her hands. "Someone- I don't know who- started a rumor saying that I was planning to turn against the Olympians in three days time."

"Can't you just tell them you aren't?" Leo cried. "Why didn't they believe you?"

Calypso shook her head. "I don't know. It was a struggle to get them to just let me say goodbye."

"Wait, Calypso," Leo said. "What if we all went and lived on Ogygia? You, me, the kids- that way we can all be together."

Calypso sighed. "I'm sorry Leo. I wish it were as easy as that. Now tell Claudia and Ella and Natalie that I love them, and will never forget them, and will never stop trying to find my way back." She kissed Leo on the head one last time before disappearing. "I love you, Leo Valdez."

"No!" Leo cried, trying to somehow run after Calypso. "No, Sunshine, don't leave me!"

—-

Natalie found him an hour later, lying on the ground, sobbing. "They sent her back to that island, didn't they?" she asked sadly.

Leo nodded solemnly.

"Daddy, can you fix the problem? You can fix everything, right?"

Leo slowly shook his head. "I'm so, so sorry, _mija_. I can't fix the problem. The one time it really matters, I can't fix it. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Natalie's quiet voice reassured him.

 **A/N: Please review! They make my day!**

 **-lunarchroniclesandcockatiels**


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